Zacharoni
by cloudgirl9
Summary: Alice Owens has loved Zach Addy since high school, but how does one drop a hint to the most socially clueless guy on earth?
1. Chapter 1

Character Bio:

Name: Alice Owens

Age: 23

Specialty: Forensic Anthropology

Hobbies: Cooking

IQ: 183

INFO: Alice and Zach grew up together in Michigan. Whilst in high school, Zach had to leave to go to college early. They remained friends, but lost contact when Alice went to college. Her parents, who didn't want her to graduate high school early, allowed her to skip two years in college and she went on to get a degree in Forensic Anthropology. Like Zach, she is a genius, but with social skills.

Story Begin:

3rd person

It was a slow day. This was unusual for the crew at the Jeffersonian Institute. Angela and Hodgins had gone off to lunch, Dr. Saroyan was at a meeting, Booth was with his son, Brennan was writing and Zach was taking inventory on bones. Brennan got a page from the security up front. She hurried to meet their newest addition to the team.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Brennan."

"Dr. Owens, it's a pleasure to meet you Dr. Brennan! I love your books!" she said with a small squeal.

"Let me show you around."

Alice's POV (this is how it will be for the rest of the story)

It was just like the pictures, a beautiful open space with an elevated platform for work, second floor walkways with a lounge. I was so excited.

"Zach!" Dr. Brennan called out, "Come meet our new Anthropologist!"

The young man who'd been busily working on something on the platform turned around and began to walk down the steps. The both of us gasped at the exact same moment.

"Zach!" I ran towards him and hugged him tightly, "I can't believe you're here! I thought after I went to college we'd never see each other again!"

"I missed you so much, Alice." He hugged me back.

"I suppose I don't have to introduce the two of you." Dr. Brennan said.

Zach and I parted rather awkwardly, remembering that Dr. Brennan was there.

"Zach, if you want you can join us as I give Alice a full tour."

"I need to finish the inventory. But I promise I'll see you later, ok Alice?"

I smiled widely, "Definitely, Zach."

Dr. Brennan's tour only took us a while.

"Here's your card, you'll need it to get up on the platform, and here's your lab coat."

"Ok, so… what do I do now?" I said as I put on the blue lab coat that I had dreamed about for so long.  
"I suppose you could help Zach with the inventory since we don't have any cases currently."

"Cool!" I was really excited.

I swiped my card at the base of the steps to the platform. After a little approving beep, I walked up to Zach.

"Dr. Brennan told me that I'm supposed to help you with this."

"Ok, you can start on the next skeleton." He said as he pointed to a box on the other table. I laid out the bones, making sure they were all there. Writing it down, packing the bones up again, and proceeding to do the same with the next box. We worked silently for a good hour.

"Zach?" I said suddenly stopping.

"Yes?" he said, continuing the inventory.

"Have you eaten lunch yet today?" I said knowingly.

"No…" he said meekly.

"Zack. You need to eat lunch." I said taking the clipboard out of his hand, "C'mon, I'll go ask Dr. Brennan if we can go to lunch, ok?"

"Fine." He said with a hint of hurt as he put the bones back in the box.

Dr. Brennan said yes, so he and I walked to the Diner, which he said had really good food. We ordered our lunch and caught up on each other's lives. When our food came, Zach dug in, as if he hadn't eaten in a few days instead of a few hours.

"It's a good thing I'm here to make sure you don't starve, huh?" I smiled.

He paused, "Yes… thank you for getting me to lunch, Alice." He smiled at me. I loved his smile. It was rare when he was in his zone, but once he'd loosened up a bit, the adorably awkward grin popped up all the time.

"So, what's everyone at the Jeffersonian like?" I asked excitedly.

"Well, there's Dr. Brennan, whom you've met. She's brilliant!" he said with total admiration in his eyes, "Hodgins, our entomologist, he's my friend, I live in the apartment above his garage. Angela, facial reconstructions, she has an odd on-off relationship with Hodgins… anyways, she's super nice and always gives me tips about socialization. Then there's Agent Booth, Dr. Brennan's FBI partner, he helps us with cases, and Angela says that he and Dr. Brennan should be going out because it's obvious that they like each other but I'll let her tell you that, and we also have a psychological profiler, Dr. Sweets. He's annoying…" he ended with a semi-frustrated frown.

I smiled after the mini rant of information was over, "Cool! Oh, and Zach? Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure"

"Can I stay at your place until I can find a place to stay?" I said hopefully.

"Of course!" he said happily.

"Great! Thank you so much Zacharoni!"

We finished our lunch, went back, took more inventory and then it was finally time to leave. Zach and I walked over to Hodgins as he was putting the last of his things away.

"Hodgins? Can Alice stay with me until she finds an apartment?"

"What? You've got a girlfriend Zachie? Lemme see her!" Hodgins pushed Zach aside and looked me over, "Nice, Zach! Of course she can stay with you!"

"I'm Alice. Zach and I were friends in High School and I kinda work here now, so… yeah." I said awkwardly as he looked me over some more.

"If I am correct, your staring is making her uncomfortable, Hodgins." Zach said, a hint of concern in his voice.

"Sorry Zach." He turned to me, "It's just amazing that my little Zachie is finally growing up!" he wiped away an imaginary tear. I giggled.

"Seriously? I'm just gonna sleep on his couch for a few days, we're just friends."

"That's what they all say, baby."

I glared at him when he said baby.

"I-I didn't mean t-to say that…" he cowered a bit as we walked out to his car.

**at the apartment**

He opened the door to reveal a very tidy little apartment.

"Oh my gosh, Zach! This apartment of yours is adorable! You can't have picked all this furniture out yourself."

"Angela and Hodgins helped me." He said setting our bags by the couch and sitting down.

I sat next to him and snuggled next to him.

"I'm glad we're still friends, Zacharoni." I inhaled his smell of isopropyl alcohol and a hint of cologne.

"Me too, Ally."

We sat there together, enjoying each other's presence for a while. The silence broke.

"I'll go get you some blankets, so you can sleep here." He slowly got up, almost painfully.

"Alright, I'll get my stuff out."

We both went to do our separate things and then bid each other goodnight.

I laid there on the couch, thinking of him. High school had been so boring without him. People talked to me, but I could never have a good conversation because nobody could understand what I was talking about. My best friend had left. I was lonely. It was then that I realized how much he really meant to me. It was as if we were meant to be together. The both of us blessed with extreme intelligence and thirst for knowledge. I realized that I loved him. As I lay there, thinking of my old realization, I knew that I still did love him. I love him.

I drifted off to sleep.

A flash, BOOM.

I awoke startled. It was storming outside. I looked at the clock, 2:39 AM. Another flash, another boom. I was terrified of thunder. Always had been. Dead bodies and rotting flesh didn't scare me in the least, but thunder and lightning? I grabbed the blanket and dashed to Zach's room, gently shaking him awake.

"Mmm…. What is it?" he asked groggily.

"Thunder." I whispered, terrified.

He instantly realized my problem and threw the covers up so I could climb in. I snuggled close to him, trembling at every flash and boom. His arms were around me, stroking my head. He whispered reassuring words as I fell asleep in his arms.

(2 hours later)

Hodgins came bursting into the apartment.

"Zach! Alice! Get up! Booth's got us a case and we can go to the scene if we get ready in time!"

Zach and I were instantly awake. We tried to get out of bed, but Hodgins suddenly burst through the door, a large grin on his face.

"Just friends my ass!" he laughed at us.

"I'm afraid of thunder okay?" I said as I stormed to the bathroom to shower.

I heard Zach calmly explaining the situation to a smug Hodgins. I dressed quickly and walked out.  
"Are we leaving now or not?" I asked impatiently interrupting their conversation.

"Ok, let's go!"

**at the lab**

"Victim was female, Caucasian, approximately 20 years old."

"Good, Dr. Owens, you and Zach can work on IDing the body." Dr. Brennan nodded approvingly.

"Please Dr. Brennan, can you call me Alice?"

"Sure Alice." She smiled as she and Booth left to talk to the guy who found the body.

"Dr. Brennan thinks you're adorable." A female voice I assumed was Angela said from behind me.

"You must be Angela! Zach's told me about you." I turned and shook her hand.

"All good I hope!" she smiled warmly as she shook mine back.

"Of course, and I agree that Booth and Brennan are so in love with each other."

"So he's told you my theory!" she giggled taking me aside, "Please, enlighten me. What exactly is your relationship with little Zachie?"

"We've been friends since high school, but we lost contact when he went to college early. I'm staying at his place until I can find an apartment. Why do you ask?"

"Hodgins told me this funny story about walking in on you two in bed together." Her smile grew.

"There was a storm last night. I'm afraid of thunder, so Zach let me sleep in his bed with him. That's all." I was a little annoyed that it was my first whole day and I was already at the butt of a rumor.

"Okay, Sweetie, I believe you." She smiled knowingly and whispered, "do you wish that it was what I'd thought it was?"

I blushed a deep red.

"I take that as a yes, sweetie! I'll see you around!" Angela walked off as I turned back to the body. This lab was going to be a combination of my greatest dreams and my worst nightmares. I was ready for it.


	2. Chapter 2

It'd been two weeks since I'd joined the Jeffersonian. I never had gotten myself an apartment. Hodgins said that I could rent out the completely finished and furnished attic of his crazy-huge house. I was very glad that I could stay near my new friends. Zach and I spent almost all of our spare time together. We'd go to the diner or watch cheesy horror movies or have an in-depth conversation about anthropology. My life couldn't get much better.

*knock knock knock*

"Alice! Be ready in ten minutes!" Hodgins yelled in my door.

"I'm ready now Hodgepodge!" I trampled down the stairs, grabbing my bag and a piece of toast before going out to get Zach, "Zacharoni! Let's go!"

Zach came down the stairs pretty fast, but neither of us bet on him tripping and falling on the 7th step.

"Whooaah!" Zach tumbled forward and onto me.

"Ooof!" we landed on the hard floor with a thud. Zach was on top of me. We were both a bit dazed and I definitely had the wind knocked out of me. His face was so close to mine. I could feel my pulse quickening. Then I was aware of a sharp pain in the back of my head.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry Alice! I completely didn't mean to… Are you ok?"

"Huh?"

"You look a bit pale… Whoa! Your head's bleeding!"

"So that's what that pain was..." I said, slowly drifting out of consciousness as Zach shouted my name.

************************************************

I awoke in the white sterile bed of a hospital. I looked at the window and saw that it was dark out. _Was I really out that long?_ I thought to myself. I looked down to see Zach face-down snoring. Our hands were intertwined. I heard the heart rate monitor pick up my sudden jump in heart rate. I didn't want to wake Zach, so I stroked his hair as he lay there in front of me. I looked at my watch, which read 4:37 AM. _He must have been here all night… maybe longer if Dr. Brennan let him off work for the day. _

"I knew there was something there!" Angela said as she briskly walked through the door.

"Shhhh! You'll wake Zachie!" I whispered to her, blushing, "So what happened to me anyway?"

"Extremely minor concussion, you were out for a good 20 hours though." She said simply.

"Oh. Okay."

A rather awkward silence ensued.

"So what are you doing here at this hour Ange?"

"I came to make sure that Zach had eaten _something_ while he was waiting for you to wake up."

I smiled knowingly, "I see. If he collapses from malnutrition, we _are_ in a hospital."

"That's true." She giggled, "So… about you and Zacharoni here."

"Well, you know I've known him since high school… and my crush on him started about a month or so before he left for college."

"Ah, I see. So you thought you were never going to see him again. Did you take action?" Angela was on the edge of her seat.

"No, I've always been super shy. I couldn't have! Plus he doesn't exactly pick up on anything…"

"You need to take action! These feelings aren't meant to be bottled up, Alice!"

"Well what do I do then?"

"Ok, the minute he wakes up, I want you to kiss him."

"What?!" I tried hard to keep my voice down.

"You heard me!"

"I could never!"

Zach stirred. My heartbeat quickened again. He groaned as he sat up and stretched. "Mmm… g'morning… Is Alice awake yet?"

"Yup." I said smiling.

"Ohmygoshi'msosorryididn'tmeantotripandthenyouhityourheadand-"

I cut him off with a kiss. Angela gasped and Zach froze, but slowly began to kiss back. Angela awkwardly left the room as Zach's hands slowly crawled up my sides. My hands went to his face and caressed his neck and shoulders.

"Ahem."

We instantly broke apart and looked away from each other. I could feel that my face was a thousand shades of red at one time.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we brought some breakfast. Angela told us you were up." Booth said as he and Dr. Brennan carried in coffee, cocoa, tea and doughnuts. The coffee was for everyone but me and Zach, the cocoa for him, the tea for me. Zach had a very low caffeine tolerance and I just disliked the taste of coffee.

I grabbed a custard-filled doughnut as Angela walked back in. "How do you eat so much without it going to your hips, Al?" She joked.

I smiled but it became quiet once more.

"Did the doctor say when I could be let out?"

"Yeah, in about," Booth looked at his watch, "One hour."

"Great! Seeing as its five in the morning, how about we head off to the Jeffersonian!" Dr. Brennan said, gathering up the empty doughnut container and leaving with Booth.

"Zach, you stay here with Alice, ok? Bye!" Angela walked out quickly.

"Um- Oh, you can- eh…" we both said at the same time.

I giggled and he smiled warmly. I took his hand and intertwined it with mine.

"I'm going to go change into some regular clothes. You can go back to the lab if you like." I said getting up, grabbing a pile of my clothes from yesterday and kissing him on the lips before walking off to the bathroom, surely leaving him stunned in his seat.

I walked into the bathroom and all but jumped for joy at what I'd finally done. Walking back out of the bathroom, I noticed that Zach hadn't moved from his seat and was smiling whilst staring blankly into space.

"Zach! Let's go!"

He quickly jumped up and walked with me to a cab and we drove off to the Jeffersonian in silence.

************************************************

Zach and I buzzed about the Lab as happy as clams, whatever the heck that means. He and I were cataloguing bones when Cam walked in.  
"Ok, we've got a case, Brennan and Booth are getting the body, so I need you two to put away all these bones before they get here ok?"

"Ok!" Zach and I said brightly.

"Is there something I'm missing here?" She asked looking between the two of us.

"Yes-" Zach started.

"But we're not going to tell you until an appropriate time." I said gathering up the bones from the table.

"Fine, just stay out of the supply closet, lovebirds, that's Hodgins and Angela's spot." She said laughing as she walked off the platform. Zach and I blushed as we picked up the boxes to bring back down to Limbo.

"Hey, there aren't any cameras down in Limbo, correct?"

"I think you're right…" Zach said smiling.

We put the boxes in their places and walked off to one of the corners.

"Zach, before we start… you know… we need to discuss this. We need to let each other know what this means to us."

"I agree. Care to start?"

"Ok, I have loved you since high school and I was a total idiot to give up on you when you left for college, but seeing you when I got to the job of my dreams just… because you are the man of my dreams. You're everything to me. You share my level of intelligence and my passion for knowledge and my love of anthropology. I love you Zach Addy."

"Can I make mine short? Exactly what you said. Only what I mean is-"

Cutting him off for the second time today, I began our full make out session. Our lips moved in tandem as my hands massaged his back and his caressed my hips. His lips moved down to my neck as I gasped in pleasure. My cell phone rang. Most likely Cam calling us up to examine the new body. We regretfully separated as I answered my phone.

"Cam? Yes. Yes, I realize that. Yes, we'll be up in a minute." I shut my phone.

"I take it we have to go up now?" he asked with sadness in his voice.

"Yes, Addybear, but I promise we'll continue this after work okay?" I said, straightening my shirt and hair as we walked up to the main floor. I swiped my card and walked up to the platform to look at the body. It was almost completely bone, which I was a little glad for since I wasn't in the mood for rotting flesh today.

"Alice, stats please."

I looked carefully, "Male, 70ish… looks like he had a limp and one of his legs is about an inch shorter than the other."

"Possible cause of death?"

"There's a gunshot wound to the head for starters, but it looks like-"

"Is that a _hickey_?!" Angela almost shouted.

"I have a hickey?" I asked rather clueless.

"Uh, yeah. And it's purple as a plum!" Angela chirped as Zach blushed.

"Alice, please continue your thought as you were saying before Angela interrupted." Dr. Brennan said sternly.

"Yes, of course. There appears to be strange ridges along both sets of ulna bones. They look almost like they were sawed at or something."

"That's very interesting… I didn't see that before. Great work Alice. Let's get an identity on this guy and then we can go home for the night"

"Where was he found?" I asked.

"In an Iron ore processing plant, why?"

"These ridges might have been made by a machine there, they're all perfectly spaced and the lines on the two arms line up with each other perfectly."

"Wonderful work Alice!" Dr. Brennan smiled.

I smiled back. Zach came up and discreetly kissed my forehead.

I whispered to him, "The faster we work to find this guy's identity, the sooner we can go home."

He seemed to get the message.


	3. Chapter 3

"Zachie, there's a change of plans; we're all going out to the Diner tonight, ok?"

"Oh, that's fine with me."

"Good," I smiled as I hugged him, "because we're going whether you like it or not."

He laughed as I pulled him along towards the door. The summer evening air was cool with a slight wind. I snuggled my body into his arm as we walked hand in hand down the streets to the Diner. As we walked in, Sweets took notice of me and Zach.

"I knew you two were going to start dating sooner or later." He said with a sigh.

"Psychology can't determine compatibility!" Angela said.

"Then how do you have such romantic insight?" he retorted.

"Intuition." She said with a mock huff as we all laughed.

The rest of the evening at the Diner was filled with laughter and cheer, when we began to disperse for the night. Hodgins drove Zach and me home, and when we arrived, I let Hodgins go inside ahead of me. I shut the door in front of me and ran back to the garage to go to Zach's apartment. Upon letting me in, Zach's lips were on mine. Our tongues danced while we began to undress. When we were both half-naked, I stopped.

"What is it?" Zach whispered.

"I think this is moving a bit to fast, Zach." I said.

"I didn't really notice, but I guess you're right." His adorable puzzled look surfaced.

I tackled him to the bed, "Then let's just sleep okay? I love you, and I don't mind just being here with you one tiny bit." I smiled as we snuggled up under the covers.

"I love you so much, Alice."

"I love you too Addybear."

We snuggled together and drifted off to sleep.

************************************************

Zach's alarm clock beeped as we groggily awoke.

"Mmm… Zack? I'm gonna go get dressed over at my apartment, ok?" I said with a yawn.

"That's fine, I'll see you in the car."

I knew that Zach and I always got up far earlier than Hodgins, so I tried to be extra quiet when I was making my way up to the attic. Suddenly, I heard a voice from behind me.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" A robed Hodgins said, coffee in hand as Angela came out of the doorway next to him. I suddenly realized that I still was wearing my clothes from yesterday and that my hair probably looked terrible.

"Oh my gosh, Alice! You kissed him once yesterday and now you're having sex?" Angela asked astonished.

"No! We did not have sex! We kissed and talked and went to bed. Nothing more."

"Uh-huh, that's what they all say, Baby." Hodgins said with a smirk.

I shot him a glare before ascending the stairs to my apartment. I hopped in the shower and then grabbed some clean clothes. Picking up my bag, I descended the stairs to the kitchen and ate a Poptart and some juice before heading out the door. Zach climbed in the back of Hodgins' car, followed by Angela and Hodgins climbing in up front.

"We all here?" Hodgins asked jokingly.

"Why wouldn't we be?" Zach asked with his adorable puzzled frown.

"Never mind Zach…" Hodgins chuckled as we pulled out of his driveway and went off to the Jeffersonian.

************************************************

"Peter Thomson, 74, had a limp because of a birth defect. Cause of Death, fatal gunshot wound to the head after being tortured with some sort of machine at an Iron processing factory." I said to Dr. Brennan and Cam.

"There's almost no insect activity because most of the tissue was gone, but in the remaining flesh, many lifecycles had already occurred, so this guy died quite a while ago." Hodgins added.

"His file says that he went missing about 9 months ago." Angela put in.

"Okay, great. Now we just need to find _who_ killed him." Booth said swiping his card before coming up on the platform, "Bones, you'll come with me, talk to his daughter in Maryland. Rest of you squints, see if you can find anything else!" he said, dragging Dr. Brennan away.

"Great work everyone, especially you Ms. Owens." Cam said smiling at me.

I blushed "Zach helped… and please call me Alice."

"Alrighty then. Let's get cracking! Look over everything, explore some theories. Zach and Hodgins, remember that you MUST have my permission to do extensive experiments. You can do little things just fine, but if it involves anything that can blow up, bounce, or in any way potentially harm someone you need to talk to me first. Understood?" She said harshly.

"Yes ma'am." Hodgins said, hands in the air. I turned to the computer and began looking at all sorts of machines used in Iron processing that might saw grooves in a lateral pattern. I spent the better part of the morning looking through machines until I found one. I called Dr. Brennan.

"Brennan."

"Dr. Brennan, I found the machine that the murderer used on Peter Thomson."

"That's great! What is it?"

"It's used to saw apart large slabs of molded iron into rods for use in buildings. The murderer pulled the victim's arms out before the machine could saw completely through them."

"Okay, thanks Alice!"

Zach walked over to me, "Ok, I've been practicing saying this a couple ways, but I think I'll just be direct. Do you want to go out to dinner with me tonight?" He looked at me with puppy eyes.

I smiled and pecked him on the lips, "Yes I would. Where were you thinking?"

"Hodgins told me about this sushi place…"

"Sounds great Zachie! We can get ready together and then borrow one of Hodgins' cars… wait, neither of us drive…"

"I already asked Angela if she'd be willing to drive us and she said yes, so we don't have to worry about that."

"Great! Let's get back to work, ok?" I smiled, squeezing his hand and turning back to the bones on the table. I thought to myself about all the facts we had. _This guy had no enemies. His only daughter is happily married with two kids. His wife died three years ago. He is considerably wealthy. That could be motive for the daughter… but Booth said she was super dainty and such so I don't think she could handle blood…_

I called up Booth.

"This is Booth."

"Where does Mr. Thomson's daughter's husband work?"

"I don't know off hand, but I can ask, we're here with him." I heard him ask the question to the man, "He says he works odd jobs, but mainly at an auto body repair shop, why?"

"Ask him where he worked 9 months ago."

"Ok…" he asked the question, "He didn't have a job back then."

"Ugh… Ask him if he's _ever_ worked in some sort of iron processing facility."

"Ok" again, the question, "He worked at one in the next town over for three years, _WHY_?"

"Because he has motive and ability. Does he perchance own or use to own a 9mm handgun?"

"Yes, we already checked that…"

"Well then I think you have our murderer."

Zach butted in, "I think you should check their finances and see how much money they came into when the victim died."

"Alrighty then. Thanks squint squad!"

Just before he hung up I could hear him getting his handcuffs out of his belt.

"High five, Zach!" I held up my hand. We high fived and went to tell Angela and Hodgins that we'd found the guy.


	4. Chapter 4

Halloween was in two days and Angela had planned out all our costumes. She told us that we weren't allowed to tell anyone who we'd be. As a group, we'd settled on a theme of Superheroes. Mainly because Dr. Brennan _always_ dresses as one and Cam still had a Cat Woman costume from last year. Angela called us each to her office separately.

"Ok, Alice! Since you've got the lovely golden hair, you'll be Black Canary."

"Cool!"

"Perfect. I have your whole costume here." She handed me a nondescript bag.

"Thanks, Ange!"

The party for the Jeffersonian would be on Halloween and I was already excited. Each department was themed; Archaeology was doing ancient rulers, and Paleontology was doing classic Halloween stuff. I was surprised that Angela had convinced Booth to dress themed too.

***********************************************

Before I knew it, Halloween had arrived. I got in the back of Hodgins' car with Green Arrow and the Flash. I looked at Zach and his blonde tape-on Mustache and giggled.

"Angela _totally_ coordinated our costumes."

"I don't get how our costumes have anything to do with each other…" Zach said, adorably puzzled.

"Black Canary and Green Arrow date and eventually get married in the Justice League, Green Arrow/Green Lantern, and Black Canary comics." Hodgins put in from up front.

Zach and I blushed as we continued the car ride in silence.

**********************************************

"Ok people, we're not doing anything today, so… just try and stay out of trouble." Cat Woman/Cam said to us.

Angela had made Booth dress up as Superman, but he had yet to show up. Angela had dressed as Silk Spectre II from Watchmen. This was mainly because she wanted an excuse to wear a leather jumpsuit.

Zach and I sat together on the couch on the 2nd floor balcony.

"Zach? I love you."

"That was rather random, but I love you too. Very much so."

I snuggled into his chest and looked up at his face. "Zach? We've been going out for a week or two now… I think tonight's the night."

"I'm not sure what you are referring to…"

"You'll figure it out." I smiled seductively.

"Zach! Alice! The party's starting! Let's go!" Hodgins called up to us.

We walked down to se a very uncomfortable looking Booth. I giggled as he glared at Angela.

"Everyone's here, lets got to the party! Hodgins, no spiking the punch like you attempted last Christmas!" Dr. Brennan said, leading the way.

"Dammit…" Hodgins said under his breath. Angela swatted his arm. I took Zach's hand as we walked into the crowded hall. Zach and I found a seat in a quieter corner where we sat and enjoyed each other's company. After a while I became aware of a death glare I was getting from a witch across the room.

"Who's that?" I pointed her out.

"Oh dear… that's Naomi from Paleontology…"

"Why is she giving me the evil eye?"

"I broke up with her about 11 months ago."

"I see," I smiled and kissed him full on the mouth, "But you're my Addybear now."

He smiled at me and Naomi dispersed into the crowd. I giggled, "Your fake moustache feels funny when I kiss you!"

Silk Spectre II/Angela walked up, "C'mon guys, get up and dance!"

"Um… we don't really…" I started.

"Know how to…" Zach finished.

"It's a slow song. _You_ put your hands on his shoulders, and _you_ put your hands on her waist, then you sway to the music. It's not that hard!"

Zach stood up, "Alice, would you honor me with this dance?" he playfully offered me his hand.

"Why yes, I would love to." I smiled taking his hand and walking to the dance floor. He cautiously put his hands around my waist and I put mine around his neck to pull him closer. We swayed to the music, staring deeply into each other's eyes.

"Did you figure out what I meant earlier?" I whispered, not breaking eye contact.

"Yes." He whispered back, leaning down to kiss me. I could sense his passion, his need for me expressed in a single kiss.

***********************************************

We held hands in the back of the car as Flash/Hodgins drove us all home. Before heading for the garage, I gingerly helped Zach take off his moustache. Once inside the apartment, our clothes were quickly in a heap on the floor. Our hands were exploring every inch of each other. Our lips connected, our hands intertwined, our bodies connected. Everything felt so right with Zach. I loved him, and as we lay in bed, sweaty and tired, I realized something. I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life. I had found my perfect man. I nuzzled my face into his neck and fell asleep.

**********************************************

The next morning I awoke to Zach bringing me a plate of cinnamon toast. I kissed him and dug in. I then recalled my thoughts from last night. Eating my toast, I gazed at Zach eating his.

"Zach, I love you." I said, still studying all of his features.

He looked at me and smiled. Climbing back into bed with me he said, "I love you, Alice."

"What would you say if I told you that I want to spend the rest of my life with you?"

"I would tell you that I would die without you."

"Because I really do. I love you Zach, and I always will."

"I love you Alice. I want to spend the rest of my life with you too."


	5. Chapter 5

"We have the day off today."

"I know." He yawned.

"What do you feel like doing?"

"Anything involving your company." He looked at me, smiling.

"Hmmm… we could go to a museum?"

He joked, "But we already know everything."

I giggled, "Then we should go to a movie!"

"Which one?"

"There's none out that are very good… we can have Hodgins or Angela drive us to Blockbuster and we can rent one."  
"Sounds good to me."

We lurched out of bed. I kissed Zach one last time before going up to my apartment to shower and get some fresh clothes. This time, Angela and Hodgins stayed asleep. I would've gone and waken them, but it seemed that Zach and my idea was shared by this couple as well. I did _not_ want to see Hodgins naked. I found my purse so we could take the bus instead.

"Hodgins and Angela are still asleep, so we'll take the bus."

"That's fine."

We waited at the stop on the corner and soon boarded the bus. Arriving at Blockbuster, Zach and I realized that we didn't know what to rent. Neither of us liked romances, romantic comedies, comedies, action flicks, horror movies, or anything. So we asked one of the all-too-eager-to-help-you clerks.

"Hey, we don't know what to rent, we're looking for an interesting, straightforward movie."

"I know exactly what you two are looking for!" the semi-creepy pubescent girl smiled at us and ran to pick out a movie. She returned with a pile of sloppy romance movies. Mine and Zach's faces contorted in mock horror.

"On second thought, let's not see a movie."

"I completely agree, Zach."

"Lunch at the Royal Diner?"

"Sounds good… we can decide what we want to do with our afternoon there."

We caught another bus to the Diner. We sat and had an in-depth conversation about all the logical reasons neither he nor I drive cars. After our light lunch, we still had no idea what to do.

"I need groceries, and there's a store within a few blocks of here." He suggested.

"I need groceries too. Let's go!"

We walked hand-in-hand down the streets of DC, earning warm smiles from old people and adorable stares from little ones. My life was wonderful. I loved my friends, my job, and most of all, my boyfriend.

Upon arriving at the store, I grabbed a cart.

"I'll just go get what I need…" Zach was about to head off to the pre-made meals section. Zach, I won't deny you your macaroni, but at least let me make it for you. And I mean _real_ macaroni. I grabbed a block of cheese, a gallon of milk, some spices and an economy-sized box of macaroni noodles. "Now then, let's get you some food besides noodles." I was almost glad that he occasionally forgot meals because of what he ate for dinner every night.

"Can we at least get some ice cream?" he asked.

"Ice cream is essential. Pick out a big tub of it. I'm going to find a bathroom." I gave him the cart and hurried off to find the restroom.

-----------------Zach's POV-------------------

I watched as she walked off to the bathroom. Sighing, I looked over the ice cream choices, not really reading them. I was thinking of how lucky I was. I had great friends, a great job, a great boss, a great landlord, and a great girlfriend. It was weird, I'd never really thought of Alice as my girlfriend. We were in love. It was plain as day. I never understood that expression… I looked at my watch. Why was it taking 15 minutes for her to go to the bathroom? I shifted my weight off one foot and onto the other, nervously looking at the ice cream. Turning, I ran to ask an employee where the bathrooms were. She pointed me towards a corner of the store. I walked there and waited another 15 minutes. I called her cell phone number. _"You've reached Dr. Alice Owens, I'm busy so please leave a message!"_

"Alice! Where are you? I'm by the bathroom but I can't find you anywhere. I'm going to do one last check through the store and then I'll call Hodgins and everyone. Please call me back NOW!" Hanging up, I speed-walked through all the aisles looking, hoping that this was some sort of joke, that she was right there laughing. I dialed Hodgins' number.

"Jack Hodgins, what can I do for ya?"

"Alice is missing!"

"Huh?"

"Alice is missing!"

"What kind of missing? Like, she's hiding or someone's taken her?"

"I don't know! I'm at the grocery store, she told me to pick out some ice cream and then she went to use the toilet!"

"How long ago was this?"

"45 minutes ago!"

"Ok, I get it. I'll call Booth. You look on the streets surrounding the block you're on and in all the other stores. Got it?"

"I think so."

"I know you're usually extremely calm in panic situations, but I need you to keep cool, can you do that for me?"

"How the heck am I supposed to keep cool if she's gone? If she never comes back? What if the same thing happens to her as what happened to Dr. Brennan's mom? Where I'm cataloguing bones only to find that I just found hers? How will I keep cool?!" I was suddenly very mad at myself and the world.

"Zach. This is exactly what I told you not to do. Now go look where I told you to. If you can't find her, then call me back and by then Booth'll probably have launched a search team. Be sure and buy your groceries first!"

"Ok, thanks Hodgins." I hurried to the front of the store to purchase the groceries. With them in tow, I searched all the other stores on the block and all the streets surrounding it. The adrenaline level in my blood was unbearable. I needed to find her now. I needed to tell her how much she meant to me. I needed to tell her those three little words one last time and I'd be happier.

I called Hodgins again.

"Booth's pulled all the people he can; he told them that she was a very important doctor who needed to help ID a brutal murder."

"I searched, but I found nothing. Can you give me a ride home? I have groceries to carry and no more money for a bus."

"I'll be there in five minutes, buddy."

I sat down on a bench outside a little boutique. I stared blankly in front of me, searching my mind for any place she might have gone. But then I thought of what we'd been doing. She couldn't be doing this on purpose. Alice always answered her phone, even if it meant interrupting a conversation.

Hodgins pulled up and yelled for me to get in. I snapped into reality and put the groceries in the back seat. He handed me a map with an outlined area.

"You and I are in charge of supervising the search here. This is where we are, and this is where that store was. Booth has notified Virginia and Maryland police departments and put her near the top on the missing persons list."

I had moved on from denial to shock. Sitting in silence, I nodded slowly.

"Zach, snap out of it! We need to find her and we need to find her now."

He parked the car and we got out to meet with a large group of FBI agents.

"Dr. Addy, Dr. Hodgins, I am Special Agent Robert Lawrence. I am in charge of this group here. We will be interviewing people and knocking on doors. If you have any questions, ask me. Do either of you have any pictures of the missing Doctor?"  
I remembered a small wrinkled picture from my wallet, "Will this do? It's about a week old."

"This is perfect. You two take this over to that photocopies place and make some flyers. We'll start interviewing."

We crossed the street and I wrote with black marker, 'MISSING, Dr. Alice Owens, Age 23, roughly 5'6" tall. If seen, please call the police and notify them of the location.' Hodgins and I made 150 copies and bought a roll of packaging tape. Using the map, we posted the signs at every intersection. With permission, we posted the rest in store windows. It was now 3:00pm. This was one way I hadn't planned to spend my afternoon…


	6. Chapter 6

Alice's POV

I awoke in a strange little room. It was dark and damp, but totally silent. This was really bad. I remembered walking off to the bathroom, but nothing else. Zach was probably freaking out! What the heck had happened? Where was I? I glanced at my watch, which read 5:30 pm. I've now been missing for 3 hours.

************************************************

Zach's POV

My alarm clock woke me up. I felt like I'd had a terrible nightmare. I couldn't find Alice. I turned over, expecting to see her there asleep. Then it hit me. She was gone. Missing. Vanished. Millions of synonyms ran through my head, but they all meant the same thing. I was alone.

Picking up the phone, I called Booth.

"What is it?" he was groggy.

"Anything on Alice?"

"You'll be the first one I call, Zack."

"Ok. Thanks."

"Don't take this out on yourself, alright?"

"Yeah…"

There was nothing I could do now. The FBI was still investigating and the flyers hadn't gotten any hits. I felt so powerless. I could identify people who'd been killed and destroyed in the most brutal ways imaginable. I could help to track down murderers. But I couldn't find my kidnapped girlfriend.

************************************************

Alice's POV

They'd chained my body to a chair. Based on my observations, they were a very powerful organized crime group. They seemed to have a purpose for taking me. The tall one in the suit talked first.

"Dr. Owens, we have a proposition for you."

I sat in silence.

"We know you are a very accomplished forensic anthropologist, and we need your assistance."

I still sat there.

"A building of ours was burned down two days ago. Around 13 of my associates were inside. We need you to identify their remains, and make sure they are all there. One of them was a traitor and escaped."

"What's in it for me?"

"We won't kill your new friends."

He slid pictures of all the team, even Booth and Sweets, across the table. I stiffened when I saw the picture of Zach. It was the two of us at the Diner for lunch yesterday.

"Well?" he asked impatiently.

"After I've ID'd the bodies, you'll let me go?"

"Yes, but if you tell the police about this, he'll be the first to go." He pointed at Zach's picture.

"I'll do it, but you need to give me all the supplies that I require."

"Deal."

They led me to a small room with 13 body bags, an examination table and some boxes of supplies. _The sooner I finish, the sooner I can leave._ I thought.

-------14 hours later------

I yawned as the guy in the suit walked in, "I'm done. Do you have any tea?"

"We'll get to that later. Please enlighten me on this situation."

"Mr.-" I glanced at the chart, "Markowitz was the traitor. He lined them up and shot them with a machine gun. If you lay the bodies out in alphabetical order by last name, the bullet pattern goes in a downward slant. He then dragged their bodies – mind you some were still alive – to other parts of the building, to make it look like they were just doing their jobs, and torched the place." I was used to giving full reports.

"Well done, Dr. Owens"

"Can I go now?"

"Yes, but should we need your assistance, we will contact you."

"I hope not, but if you do just call me or something."

"Of course. Now we will have to sedate you while we bring you back."

"Wha-?" someone grabbed me from behind and gave me an injection, then everything went black.

************************************************

Zach's POV

I was still in bed. I'd gotten up to eat, knowing that Alice would be worried about me starving. _If she's alive…_ A little voice said in my head. I frowned and rolled over and looked at the clock, which read 10:30 am. Dr. Brennan had told me to take the day off and calm down until Alice was found. I wanted to work, to take my mind away from the situation, but she'd insisted. Then the phone rang. I lunged for it, "Hello? Did you find her?!"

"Calm down, Zach! We got a hit on a flyer. Guy says there's a girl asleep on a bench by the Lincoln memorial that looks like Alice."

"Is it her? Can you pick me up and take me there?"

"We don't know for sure, so I'm coming to get you and we'll go together."

"Ok, thank you so much Booth!"

"No problem, kid."

************************************************

Alice's POV

There were bright lights above me. A siren was nearby. I was being jostled around. Someone was holding my hand. Everything was hazy. I was cold. "Where's Zach?" I asked, whispering.

"Oh god, Alice! You're alive! Thank goodness! Who kidnapped you? Are you ok? I missed you so much!"

I painfully lifted my hand to his face and stroked his cheek. "I missed you too, Zacharoni."

"I think you should wait until she's warmer and more awake to ask questions." The EMT told Zach as they unloaded me at the hospital.

After a few hours of hot soup and heated blankets, the hypothermia I'd gotten from sleeping outside in DC in November had gone.

Zach had been by my side the entire time, holding my hand.

Booth walked in to ask me what had happened. "So, can you give us a summary of what happened?"

"They said if I told the police that they'd kill you all." I tightened my grip on Zach's hand.

"We need to know who they are."

"They had pictures of all of you! You and Parker at the grocery store, Dr. Brennan at Wong Fu's, Angela and Hodgins on a fancy date, me and Zach at the Diner, Cam getting into a cab, and even Sweets walking to his car!"

"Alice. We can provide protection for everyone. I'm FBI! Everyone will be just fine, now I need you to tell me who they are."

"I don't know. They appeared to be an organized crime group. Tall guy, always wore a suit, he called the shots. He looked about mid-30s, brown hair."

"And why did they take you?"

"They had me ID 13 bodies that had been shot and severely burned. They needed to determine which of their 14 agents had killed the other 13."

"Any names of these agents?"

"I can't remember the ones who died, but the one who killed the others was a… Jonathan Markowitz I think…"

"Markowitz?!"

"What? Why is that significant?"

"The Markowitz family runs a huge drug dealing company. They deal to crime groups who deal to individual people."

"They said that if they needed me again that they'd contact me."

"Oh geez… this is just great. I'll have agents over to protect you two here. I got to go set up protection for everybody."

I sighed. "Well this is just great."

"I'm still just glad you're alive and unharmed." Zach said hugging me tightly.

I snuggled into his arms, finally feeling safe.


	7. CHALLENGE!

Hokay. My summer has been hectic what with me going to camp for long periods of time. I've been (sadly) putting off a new chapter of Zacharoni because I have no fucking clue as to what to write in the next chapter, soooo;

I HEREBY PROPOSE A CHALLENGE FOR MY READERS!

YOU, my beloved fans, must write the next chapter for my story so that I have somewhere to go with it!

Requirements:

-You must be a member of fanfiction. net

-You may only enter once

-The chapter must involve the gang thing

-The chapter must end with a cliffhanger

-The chapter must be at LEAST 1,000 words and at MOST 2,500 words

THE WINNER will receive… _drumroll_

BEING WRITTEN INTO MY STORY 'THE SWEETS IN LIFE' AS A ROMANTIC PARTNER FOR ZACH!!!! :D

So please include a general description and name of the character you'd like to be!

Email your entries to pandachan7 gmail. com! (w/out those extra spaces)

(Your email addresses will be kept private)

Good luck to you all!

-Alicia


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey all! I am officially disappointed in all of you!!! Only 2 of you entered! The two very nice ladies are smililuvu123 and Suezanne! The winner was smililuvu123's entry. It was very short, so with her permission, I used it as a starting point for the chapter instead of the whole chapter. It really got me off the ground! I already have the next chapter planned and such, so thank her for it!!!**

**P.S.**

**Smililuvu123 – you never responded to my email asking you to look this over, so I am posting it anyways. If there are any big problems with it that you'd like me to change, then email me!**

**-cloudgirl9**

**Without further adieu, here it is!**

I woke in Zach's arms, rolling over, I kissed his lips gently, "Good morning starshine, the earth says hello!" I said laughing. I have no idea why, since the day before I had been in the hospital, after being forced to help some criminals to ID bodies.

"What are you so happy about?" Zach asked covering my mouth with his. After a few moments, I broke the kiss and looked Zach in the eyes. We just lay there looking into each other's eyes.

"You, what else addybear?" I giggled, snuggling into his chest.

We both lay there next to each other. Then there was a blast and suddenly the apartment was filled with smoke. Smoke was filling my lungs and I realized that Zach's hand was no longer in mine. Someone's arm was holding me roughly and I knew it wasn't Zach. Someone was carrying me out of Zach's apartment! The person carrying me stumbled, but didn't fall down the stairs. I heard the front door open and suddenly clean air was filling my lungs. I heard Hodgins yelling at whoever was holding me. There was a loud noise and I couldn't hear Hodgins anymore. Someone else, Booth maybe, was trying to negotiate with the person holding me. There was a cold circular object suddenly pressed to my temple. "Nobody move or I shoot the girl!" called an all too familiar voice.

"Oh shit." I said aloud. _The guy from the mob!_ I thought.

I heard Zach running down the stairs. "Alice!"

"Zach don't move!" I screamed as the man holding me turned to point the gun at Zach. There was still smoke coming out of the apartment and the man couldn't quite see him clearly. Taking advantage of the situation, I elbowed the guy in the stomach. In his shock, he fired. I screamed and began attacking the man with all my strength. Punching and kicking everywhere I could see. Before long, the man was unconscious and Booth was pulling me off of him. I was breathing heavily. I suddenly turned around and ran into the smoke to find Zach. The moment I saw him I immediately started crying. He was on the ground, blood pouring from his shoulder. I stooped down and tore a piece of my shirt off to press on the wound.

"Hodgins! Booth! Call an ambulance! NOW!" I said between sobs.

"Alice?" Zach whispered.

"Zach! I'm here, it's ok. Nothing bad is going to happen to you." The tears fell from my cheeks to his.

"It hurts…"

Seeing him in pain made my heart ache, "I know Zachie… everything is going to be fine… just fine." I sat there, cradling his head until the ambulance came. The words I was saying more to convince me that everything really was going to be ok.

************************************************************

I paced back and forth in the hospital waiting room. The others were sitting in chairs, all awkwardly trying to maintain composure. A nurse had told me more than once now to sit down and breathe deeply, since the stress wasn't good on the healing of the few cuts that I'd had to get stitched up. I ignored her and kept on pacing while Zach was in surgery. When he was finally brought to a recovery room, we were allowed to go in and see him. I sat beside him and held his hand as silent tears fell down my cheeks. _This is all my fault…_ I thought as I slowly fell asleep in the chair beside him.

************************************************************

I could tell that I was dreaming. Or remembering things in my dream. Or something like that…

Either way, I knew that what was happening was not actually happening. It was like watching a movie of my childhood.

Zach was there of course. We had been best friends since pre-school. It was the first day of kindergarten and the two of us walked into our classroom warily. We both already knew how to read and spell and do math, but the principle wanted to make sure that we really needed the challenge of 2nd grade already. We both sat down on the rainbow square rug like the teacher had told us to. Another little girl came up to me and asked, "What's your name?"

"I'm Alice." I said quietly.

"And you?" she pointed at Zach.

"Zach."

"I'm Isabel. And I'm the smartest girl in the class!"

"I highly doubt that, from what I can tell, Alice is much smarter than you." Zach said plainly as I looked away, embarrassed.

"Oh yeah? Prove it!"

"What's nine squared?"

Before the Isabel could answer him with a puzzled 'Huh?' I replied, "eighty-one."

"How can you square a number? A square is a shape!" Isabel said grumpily.

"It's a number multiplied by its self." I replied curtly.

"Well that wasn't fair! I didn't know that!" Isabel said.

"If you didn't know it, then Alice is smarter than you." Zach said.

"She is not! I'm more smart than her!" She then ran to the teacher crying as Zach and I sat puzzled as to why.

The scene in front of me changed to 7th grade. The awkwardness of puberty was just settling in amongst our classmates, but Zach and I were only 11. It was a Wednesday, and that Friday was our school "social", which was the middle school equivalent of the dance. A boy walked up to me at my locker.

"Hey Alice, do you wanna go to the social with me?" He said, attempting to be cool by leaning on the locker door.

I was stunned. It was the first time someone had talked to me other than to ask for homework help. The only problem was that Friday nights were Zach and my movie nights!

Not knowing what else to say, I simply said "no."

The boy, quite stunned by my curt rejection, simply walked away.

Then Zach walked up to me, "What was that about?"

"He asked me to the social, but I said no."

"Why?"

"Friday night is movie night."

"Oh. Ok, that makes sense."

The scene changed once more, this time it was to 11th grade. I had finally realized in 9th grade that I had a really bad crush on Zach. Being 15, the social awkwardness had caught up to the both of us, or just me, since Zack was already extremely socially awkward. We were doing homework in the tree house that his brothers had built.

I sighed, "I love fall."

"I quite enjoy it as well, the drainage of chlorophyll from leaves has always amazed me."

I giggled.

He looked at me with his adorably puzzled look, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing…"

I sighed again and leaned against his shoulder. He stiffened ever so slightly. We sat there a while, sharing a moment, before he got up and asked me if I wanted hot cocoa.

I said yes and as he exited, I sat and thought about what had just happened. Shrugging it off, I returned to my chemistry homework.

The scene faded out and I looked around. I was in a movie theater. _A memory/dream movie theater?_ I thought. Walking out of this mysterious theater, I found myself on the mall in front of the Lincoln memorial. I looked up the steps and saw Zach sitting there, staring blankly at the sky. I rushed up the stairs to him. "Zach! Are you ok! I'm so sorry! It's all my fault you were shot!"

I hugged him and he suddenly realized I was there. Hugging me back, we both began to cry. Then I was falling. He grabbed my hand, but the force pulling down was too strong and our hands broke apart. I screamed as I fell into white nothingness.


	9. Chapter 9

**New chapter! Sorry it's been so long since my last update. Anybody know why there's been like 30% less updates lately? I've only been a Fanfiction writer since May and all summer it was nearly a chapter a week on average for almost every category! Please let me know why this is happening!**

**On to the story!**

I awoke back beside Zach's bed. I was the only one there beside the still unconscious Zach. There was a note beside where my head had been.

_Alice, we're going to get food, call us if he wakes up, -Hodgins_

I crumpled the note and looked at Zach.

_C'mon… please wake up!!!_ I thought, gripping his hand.

His hand was warm, and mine fit well into it. I sighed sadly as I looked down on our intertwined hands and remembered when I had been unconscious in the hospital and Zach had stayed by my side. My thoughts wandered to the strange dream that I'd had, _is he conscious in his mind? Could I have actually been with him in my dream?_ I shook my head to myself, _what am I thinking? That's impossible._

I wiped away a tear that fell from my eye as I noticed Sweets walking in.

"No progress I assume?" He said sadly.

"Nope," I said, trying my hardest not to cry.

He pulled up a chair next to me and put his hand on my shoulder.

I looked at him and he smiled sympathetically. He really was a good guy, despite Booth's discomfort around him.

He stood, "I'm going to go talk to his doctor, I'll be back soon."

Zach's hand twitched.

I gasped, "Zach! Are you awake?"

He groaned in response, "Where's Alice?"

"I'm right here, Zach! Open your eyes!"

He squinted, then, rubbing his eyes with his hand, opened them all the way.

I immediately hugged him, "I thought I'd lost you for sure!"

"I had the weirdest dream…"

"What do you mean? Tell me about it."

"First it was you and me in kindergarten… then in middle school and then in high school… and then we were sitting on the steps to the Lincoln memorial… but then you disappeared."

I gasped, "I had that dream too! Oh, one sec, I told everyone else I'd call them when you woke up!"

Moving to get off the bed and get my phone, he grabbed my hand, "Wait."

He pulled me closer and kissed me with amazing gentleness and love.

"What is it with you two and hospital kissing?" Booth said mock annoyed as he and the others walked in.

Zach and I both blushed and I got off the bed and sat back in my chair.

Sweets walked back in, "The doctor said you're ok to go, Zach!"

* * *

(1 week later)

(Zach's POV)

Booth was waiting for Dr. Brennan in her office, but she wouldn't be there for another hour.

I decided it was time to ask him what I'd been meaning to for a while.

"Agent Booth? May I ask you something?"

"Sure, Zach, what is it?"

"Why did Rebecca not want to marry you?"

"_That's_ not personal at all…"

"If that was sarcasm, I'm not sure what you meant…"

"It's none of your business."

"But I need advice as what to do if Alice says no!"

Booth froze, then smiled, "She said no because she didn't want us to get married just because we had a kid."

"But you loved each other, right?"

"I think I loved her more than she loved me."

"Ok… what do you think is the likelihood that Alice will say no?"

"From what I can tell, she will most definitely say yes."

"But how should I ask?"

"Just do what feels right." He smiled as I left.

(Alice's POV)

Zach had been acting a bit strange lately…

Our conversations today were short and only had to do with the case.

Every time I saw him, he busied himself with the bones or with a test result.

He probably had something big on his mind, but I couldn't tell what!

I decided to ask him about it after work.

(Zach's POV)

"Hodgins, can I ask you something?"

"If this is about sex, then don't."

"It's not! Um, why did Angela not marry you?"

"Well you know we couldn't legally get married."

"But she refused you before you knew that… and then when you could get married, you didn't."

Hodgins sighed; I think he was a bit annoyed at me for dragging up these memories.

"I don't know. Why are you asking anyway?"

"I've been thinking of proposing to Alice."

He smiled widely, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just did, didn't I? But I need help! How do I ask her?"

"Well… you could do the classic 'get down on one knee' and you can do that one almost _anywhere_… or you could do something cute and original."

"But which one?"

"Do the one you like best!"

"What if she says no?!"

"She'll say no when pigs fly."

This puzzled me greatly, "Pigs cannot fly."

Hodgins laughed, "That's the point! Pigs will never fly, meaning she'll never say no!"

"OH! I see… Thank you, Hodgins!"

I rushed back to my station as I had some results waiting and began thinking of a way to ask Alice to marry me…

(Alice's POV)

I had nothing to do, so I went up to the little hangout area overlooking the platform and lay down on a couch.

Before long, Angela joined me and sat on a chair facing me.

She remained silent, probably thinking I was asleep.

"What do you want, Angela?" I said smiling and sitting up.

She jumped a bit, but regained composure, "Sweetie! You, Brennan, Cam and I are going on a girl's night out! We need some recovery time after everything's been so hectic."

"Girl time? As in watching chick-flicks and spilling our deepest, darkest secrets?" I said, cringing.

"Yes. Exactly. Now, here's a map to my apartment. I'll expect you there at 7, ok?" She said, handing me a map and quickly dashing away.

I sighed. Looking at my watch, I noticed it was almost time to go.

Looking over the railing for Zach, I saw him looking adorably puzzled at some test result Hodgins had just announced.

I head downstairs and hugged him, "What's on your mind? Besides the case."

He looked away, "…Things…"

"Liiiiiike…?" I prompted.

"Secret things."

"Damn… alrighty then, time for plan B."

"Plan B?"

I kissed him full on the mouth and ran my hands through his hair.

His hands went to my back and he kissed back just as I began to pull away.

I smiled at him evilly, "You only get more when you give me a hint."

"That is extremely unfair. I telling you will violate the premise of it being a secret, no matter what you promise me." I could tell he desperately wanted to finish what we had just started, but stayed true to his word and said nothing more.

I pouted my lip, and this time he kissed me.

Still a little mad at him for not sharing the secret, I tried to resist.

But his gentle touch was too much to resist… I kissed back and put my hands on his chest.

We were interrupted by a rather startled Cam.

"Next time you want to make out, please, please, please don't do it in the middle of the room."

Zach and I blushed as we headed out toward the parking lot.

He looked a bit sullen, having just been scolded by our boss.

I grabbed his hand, "For the record, Zach, that was totally worth it."  
He smiled and kissed me, more gentle this time, and we continued towards Hodgins' car.


	10. Chapter 10

**Finally an update! I'm really, really sorry it took me so long to write this, but I was busy with my Hellboy fic and schoolwork. Also! Important! I've been thinking of doing a plot arc having to do with the whole Gormagon incident… like actually having Zach go to the Looney bin and such. Thoughts? REVIEW!**

**OH MY GOD DID YOU GUYS SEE THE 100****th**** EPISODE!? ZACH WAS THERE!!!! w**

(Alice's POV)

When we arrived at Hodgins' house, I told Zach that I was going to Angela's for the night.

He looked a bit disappointed at not being able to be with me, but smiled nonetheless and wished me a good time.

Hurrying up all the stairs to my room in the attic, I was excited. I hadn't really ever had a girl's night.

I just hoped it meant staying in and watching movies, not going out on the town. Knowing Angela however, it would probably be the latter.

After packing my bag I went downstairs and told Hodgins that I would be at Angela's house. Zach was in the Kitchen in the garage apartment when I walked in.

He was making Easy Mac (of all things).

"Mac and cheese again? Didn't you have that for lunch?" I smiled and set down my bag by the door.

"It's the only thing I really know how to cook…" He looked at me a bit sad.

I smiled and hugged him, "You don't have to look so depressed about me being gone for a night. I'll see you at work tomorrow and then that night and the night after that and the night after that."

I tenderly stood on my tip-toes to kiss him. My fingers ran through his curly locks of chocolate brown hair.

His mouth left mine and kissed down my neck. I sighed at his hot touch.

He kissed me gently on the lips and then pulled back.

"Alice, can I ask-"

My phone buzzed and let me know I had a text, it was Angela.

"Zach, I'm so sorry but I gotta go. I'll see you in the morning!" I kissed him quickly and rushed out the door to catch my bus.

Arriving at Angela's apartment I was relieved to see pillows everywhere in the room with the TV. This meant we were likely staying in.

To my absolute horror however, there was a stack of movies atop the television with titles such as "The Notebook", "Dirty Dancing", and "Say Anything".

I wouldn't need to push hard for 'The Princess Bride' to be first. It was one of my favorite movies.

The reason being that it was the movie where Zach had gotten the idea of what love was. What _true love_ was.

Angela and Dr. Brennan stepped out of the kitchen, "Alice! Oh my god I'm so glad you could make it!"

I smiled and set down my bag as Dr. Brennan handed me a glass of wine. I politely refused.

"Sweetie! You're not drinking wine? Are you _pregnant_?!" Angela blurted.

"Are you _drunk_?" I said, laughing, "Wine is not my drink of choice."

"Well good, because Angela has rum and vodka in the cabinet!" Dr. Brennan said cheerily.

I laughed, "I'm fine right now, thanks. Where's Dr. Saroyan?"

"For the sake of being here, you can refer to her as Cam. And she couldn't make it; she's going to dinner with her sister." Angela said.

"Oh, that's too bad. So please tell me we aren't watching all of the movies I saw on top of the TV in the other room?"

"Of course we are! But you get first pick! The bathroom is over there, so go put on your pajamas now. I'll get some popcorn ready and Brennan will mix us some drinks!"

I smiled and went to the bathroom to change. Pulling my tank top on, I was starkly aware of the large hickey on the crook of my neck. In the morning it would be purple.

I loved that Zach had kissed me like that, but Angela was going to give me hell about this.

Pulling on my Dr. Who pants, I walked out into the living room, bracing myself for Angela's scream.

Brennan (as she insisted I now call her outside work) handed me a glass with rum and cranberry juice before commenting, "What happened to your neck? I'm not exactly an expert in flesh, but that looks like a bite mark or something…"

Angela's head whipped around from the DVD player she'd been messing with, "Another hickey!? Our little Zach is growing up so fast!" She wiped away an imaginary tear before laughing.

My face was a million shades of red. I took a large gulp of the rum and juice.

"Which movie are we watching first?" Brennan inquired.

I answered without hesitation, "The Princess Bride!"

The remainder of the night was spent laughing as we (mostly Angela) got drunk and watched sappy romance movies.

At about 1 in the morning, we turned off the movies and just talked for a while.

My shyness had melted away with the onset of my elevated blood alcohol level, "Hey Ange? What's the deal with you and Hodgins? I mean, he like frickin' loves you!"

She laughed, "I know… but I just… I don't want us to mess up again. That's what I tell myself at least…"

Brennan asked, "Why did you two break up anyways? You got your first marriage annulled and all but then you just broke up."

"We… we decided we didn't trust each other. Since I hadn't told him about my ex-husband… He said he kept things from me as well. We mutually decided to break up because of trust issues."

I sighed, "Angela, you two are in love! You have been and always will be. Who gives a shit if you have secrets? You'll be honest eventually because you know how much the other really cares about you."

"What are you, some sort of love psychologist?" Angela giggled.

"I hate psychology." Brennan said and took a large swig of her drink.

Angela asked, "So do you mind elaborating on that now fairly purple hickey and its origin?" a wide smile spreading across her face.

I smirked and ran my hand along the mark, remembering his warm mouth and the passion behind it.

"Zach was trying to dissuade me from leaving him for the night. He made a very compelling argument, though not in words." Angela and Brennan smiled and nodded knowingly.

We put blankets and sleeping bags all over the floor and soon went quiet for sleep time.

My mind was not in Angela's chic little apartment, but in the cozy apartment above Hodgins' garage. I imagined that Zach would be asleep by now, probably clutching a pillow to try to recreate the sensation of holding me as I slept. That or he had fallen asleep reading a book and would subsequently fold up some of the pages once he turned to his side.

I smiled at the thought of him holding me in his arms tomorrow night.

_And the night after that and after that until forever…_ I thought as I slowly eased off to sleep.

**Review people!!!**


	11. Chapter 11

**So, only 1 person reviewed after the previous chapter (props to Suezanne). But I forgive you cos it was a super fluffy chapter since I've been trying to work out what to do with the story… I am warning you now that I **_**am**_** going to do the Gormagon plot arc and such, but I promise to get Zach out afterwards! I just really like torturing my characters so that I can develop them and make them more defined and not Mary-Sue-ish. I am sorry in advance for any sadness I cause of you.**

**REVIEW!**

The next morning, I bid Angela and Brennan an early goodbye so I could swing by my apartment at Hodgins' house and shower before going to work.

Quietly unlocking the door to the main house and going up the stairs and into my room, I noticed that my answering machine was blinking. Dropping my bag, I pressed the button to hear the messages.

*_beep* "Hello, this is Dr. Bernard Young of Cambridge University. I am calling for Dr. Alice Owens with a proposal. A group of your former classmates are collaborating on a dig in Tibet and they informed me that you would likely want to join them. I am coordinating the event and so they provided me with this number in order for me to contact you. Please call me back any time between seven in the morning and five in the evening, UK time of course. Thank you."_

_*beep* end of messages. To erase, press one, to save, press two, to call sender, press four._

I pressed two and thought for a moment. I'd spent a semester at Cambridge and made a few friends. It seemed that they wanted me to join them on this Mongolian dig… I was certain that Dr. Brennan would be fine with it and happy for me and hold my position while I was gone, but I was worried about Zach. I had no idea how long I'd be gone…

I decided that I would ask him after work and continued to get ready.

Bounding down the stairs to the kitchen, I was greeted by Hodgins, who told me to go make sure that Zach was ready so we could all leave.

I walked across the chilly grounds to the garage with a spring in my step.

Knocking on the door, I heard Zach say with food in his mouth, "Just a moment!"

Smiling to myself, I opened the door and walked to the kitchen, where Zach was bent over a bowl of oatmeal, his back towards me.

I snuck up behind him and pressed my wind-chilled hands against his hot neck.

Zach jumped a bit and I giggled, kissing him on the cheek, "Didja miss me?"

He smiled, "Yes, but I was unaware that you wanted to scare me to death with your cold hands around my neck."

"Hodgins says we need to hurry so we can get to work…" I pulled him up out of his chair and grabbed his empty bowl, placing it in the sink.

I turned around and he was right in front of me, his hands around my waist pulling me closer, "I want time to stop for us…" pulling me into a gentle warm kiss.

My hands caressed his chest as I slowly pulled away. His eyes were still closed as our lips were a mere inch apart.

"Angela was really drunk last night and told me where she hid the key to the Egyptology department." I smirked as he opened his eyes.

He smiled, "We better not leave Hodgins waiting then."

Gathering our things, we walked down the steps to the driveway where Hodgins was impatiently tapping his hands on the steering wheel of his mini cooper.

That morning was very slow at the Jeffersonian. When lunch break began, Zach and I quickly ate our meals and hurried off to the Egyptology department.

I unlocked the door while Zach kept watch. We tiptoed into the large room filled with ancient artifacts.

For a moment, Zach and I were a bit stunned by the sheer beauty of each and every piece in the room.

He speed walked over to a large and intricately painted sarcophagus and marveled at it.

"Zach," I said, "did you forget why we're here?"

Somehow, he ignored me. I sighed and took my pants off.

Walking a few paces down the little path around the room, I took off my shirt. Turning a corner I kept going, taking off my bra as well.

Turning another corner, I took of my Panties and held them, "Zach!"

"Yes? Where did you go?"  
I smirked to myself, "Follow the trail."

I heard him begin walking, stopping every so often at my clothing markers. Just as he was about to turn the last corner, I threw the panties at his face and went around the bend to the bed.

Peeking around the corner, I saw him take them off his face and then realize what they were. His face turned a million shades of red and mine was a bit pink as well.

He finally reached the bed, where I lay waiting. I kissed him roughly, but then pulled away.

"Have I done something wrong?" He asked, adorably confused at my stopping.

"You're wearing too much clothing; that's what's wrong." I hurried to get his clothes off of him.

Soon we were both naked and engulfed with each other.

Later, we collapsed side by side; sweaty but content.

"Can I ask you something?" we both said at the exact same time.

He smiled, "You can go first."

"Suppose I was offered a spot on a dig in Asia and I didn't know how long I would be gone but it would be a great opportunity for me. Would you be ok with me going and possibly not seeing you for six months or so?"

I observed his face as he thought, his eyebrows gently furrowing, "I would support you in your decision, but I would miss you so much I don't think I'd be able to work… why do you ask?"

"Well, you know how I did a semester at Cambridge while I was in college?" He nodded, "Some of my friends from then are going on an Archaeological dig in Tibet and they want me to come with. I'd be gone for six to eight months."

"That's a wonderful opportunity! I think that you should do it." He smiled at me, but I could see the sadness in his eyes.

I smiled weakly and kissed him, "Zach, I know you're upset about this, but I love you and I promise that my feelings for you will never change."

We got dressed and got back to work, Zach went off to run some lab results by Hodgins and I went to talk to Dr. Brennan.

I quietly knocked on the open door, "Dr. Brennan? I need to talk to you."

"Alice! Yes, come in and have a seat."

"Ok, so some of my classmates from Cambridge want me to go on a dig with them in Tibet. I'd be gone for between six and eight months and I was wondering if firstly, that was alright by you, and secondly, if you would hold my position until I got back?" My face was hopeful.

"Yes of course! That sounds absolutely amazing! Do you know what exactly you'll be excavating?" She looked as excited as a five-year-old on Christmas morning.

I smiled, "Not yet, I just got the call this morning. Thank you so much Dr. Brennan!"

Exiting her office, I thought to myself. Will Zach really be ok without me here for over half a year? Shrugging it off, I went back to work.

**HEY PEOPLE! So how do you like it? I will not be writing and posting the next chapter until I have FIVE REVIEWS! (and no you may not review more than once to get to the goal faster)**


	12. Chapter 12

**New Chapter! Woohoo!**

**Sorry, its super short… Super special thanks to the five people who reviewed the previous chapter: smileiluvu123, Radioactive-Nerd-Love-Scene, Suezanne, Potter, and deathnoteno1fan-codegeasslover!**

(Alice's POV)

"You're leaving?" Angela all but screamed when I told her I'd be going on a dig in Tibet.

"Yes, but I'll come back!"

"I'm not worried about you, I'm worried about Zach! You're the best thing that's happened to him since he's gotten this job here!"

My face fell, "I'm worried about him too…"

Angela tried to put on a happy face, but I could tell she was still concerned.

(Zach's POV)

I handed a folder of lab results to Hodgins.

He thanked me and I turned to leave but remembered that I had wanted to ask him for some advice.

"Hodgins? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Z-man, what's up?"

"Well, Alice is leaving the Jeffersonian to-"

He choked on his coffee, "What!"

"Alice is leaving the Jeffersonian to go on an Archaeological dig in Tibet, but she'll be back in 6-8 months."

Hodgins coughed a couple times, "Ok, don't freak me out like that!"

"I was not done talking when you choked on your coffee and interrupted me, but I will to wait until you are not drinking to tell you things next time."

"Great, thanks, now why do you need my advice?"

I took a deep breath, "When should I propose? Because if I propose now then she might feel guilty about leaving and not work as well, but if I wait to propose until when she gets back then she might not like me anymore and then I will have wasted the only opportunity to marry the woman I love!"

"Ok, Zach, shut up for a few minutes and let me explain this to you."

I nodded and took a seat across from him.  
"I think you should propose when she gets back. If you proposed now, then didn't see each other for a half a year, things might get a little weird… Anyway, I am absolutely positive that Alice will marry you no matter when you proposed because she loves you! She won't stop loving you just because she can't physically be with you."

I remained silent.

"You can talk now."

"Thanks, Hodgins." I smiled.

"Mmhmm."

(ONE WEEK LATER)

(Alice's POV)

"Ok, you're sure you have everything? Cos I don't think we can ship much to Tibet!" Angela joked as she hugged me goodbye.

I received similar hugs from Cam and Dr. Brennan.

Booth gave me a big bear hug, "Be sure to come back with all your fingers, otherwise I don't think Bones and Cam will let you back to your job!"

"Thanks Booth." I smiled.

Hodgins patted me on the back, "Come home soon, otherwise Ange and I will have to deal with Z-man in the wee hours of the morning when we'd rather be doing other things."

I rolled my eyes and then turned to Zach.

The others bid me farewell and began walking towards the parking ramp.

I hugged Zach tighter than I think I'd ever hugged anyone before.

We broke apart and I kissed him, tears forming at the corners of my eyes.

"I'll talk to you on Skype every Sunday so you can tell me what happened on Doctor Who, ok?"

"Yeah…"

"Zach?"

"Yes, Alice?"

"No matter how far or long we are apart, I will always love you. Remember that."

I kissed him gently as a large clock tolled 1:30. I had a half hour until my plane left.

"Zach, I have to go now."

"I know."

The tears began to fall down my cheeks.

Zach's hand gently brushed them away.

He kissed my forehead, "Go on, go find something and make history."

I smiled, then turned and walked towards the security checkpoint.

The Airport smelled of dust and fast food.

I stood stiffly in line, holding my ticket and ID in one hand and grasping my carry-on with the other. My driver's license picture had been taken three years ago, before I had moved to DC and found Zach. Peering at myself on the little card, I noted how hopeful and innocent I had looked. At the moment, I was looking rather forlorn as I stood in line for Airport Security before I got on a plane to Seattle, then Hong Kong, and finally Tibet. I was headed out to the middle of the biggest continent in the world for an archaeological dig with some of my classmates from college. It was supposed to be a wonderful opportunity, I should be excited.

Zach would be alone once more. Sure he would have Hodgins and Angela, but they were too involved with themselves to watch Doctor Who re-runs with him late on Saturday nights while eating cookie dough and fresh bacon. They would most definitely not cuddle with him in the wee hours of the morning before piling into Hodgins' tiny car to go to work. I couldn't help but think that something bad was going to happen while I was gone.

When the squint team (plus Booth) was broken, then everything fell apart. As I loaded my bag onto the conveyer belt and took off my sandals, I was terrified of what I might come home to.

**Ok, so I'm not exactly sure how to have this work while she's away… cos while she's away, Hodgins and Angela are gonna almost get married and then break up and Zach's gonna go to Iraq and then come back and get involved with Gormagon. So maybe a chapter of monthly diary entries? Thoughts please! And yes, I do realize that there were five reviews a month ago, I just have been busy with… things…**


	13. Chapter 13

**I am so sorry I haven't updated in forever! I've hit a mental block in this story… Also, I am living in Germany right now and so… I'm not watching Bones. I know I could easily watch it online but I promised my friend that when I returned to the US in July that we'd watch the entire season in one sitting. THIS MEANS: NO SPOILERS OR SO HELP ME I WILL FIND YOUR IP ADDRESS AND KILL YOU. Ok? I knew you'd understand.**

(Alice's Journal)

Month 1:

Ok, so I'm keeping this journal because all of these unbelievably cold days in the Himalayas just blend together and I need to remember stuff. Things have been good so far, we've mostly just been planning out our excavation, which can get boring at times. A couple years ago, a group of German mountain climbers found an old cave that had paintings and a labyrinth of tunnels in it. They notified the Chinese, British and German governments of their discovery. After much persuasion, the Chinese government allowed our team to come and excavate. The cave is a long ways away from our base camp, which is near a small village. We're going to have to set up a secondary camp closer to the cave where we can catalogue things we find and retreat to in case of bad weather.

On another topic, I've been Skyping with Zach every week and he seems alright so far. I've been worried about him since I left but he is surprising me by being able to take better care of himself than before I went to DC. Oh, and there's some really great news! Angela and Hodgins are engaged! It was only a matter of time I suppose but I am so happy for them!

Month 2:

I'm going to talk about DC first because the news is completely unbelievable. So it turns out that Angela got married a long time ago on some island when she was really drunk… so she and Hodgins found her husband and got him to sign divorce papers but the idiot lovebirds broke up afterwards because they 'couldn't trust each other' or something… Oh man though… Zach is in Iraq right now. I guess that means we are physically closer to each other but I'm really scared for him. He's used to seeing gruesome scenes and not flinching but being in the army he might know some of the soldiers he's IDing. I wish I was there for him… We've been skyping as usual but the Iraq Internet is patchy and he doesn't have much time to talk. Also they made him cut his hair! I didn't like that but it'll grow back eventually I suppose.

Here in Tibet, we've been making some progress! We started mapping the cave and have a pretty detailed picture of it. It appears to be an abandoned temple. There have been seven bodies found as of yet, all monks. Charlie, one of my classmates from Cambridge, found a large chamber with statues carved straight from the walls of the cave! Its quite a sight to see! More news soon!

Months 3 & 4:

Ok so we've been living at the second base camp a lot lately and might have to move there for the last 2-3 months of our excavation because we have been finding so much that we need to catalogue all the time! We found more chambers a level below the initial cave that were filled with all sorts of relics from around the world. They were probably brought to the temple as tribute to the monks and gods that presided over it. The only thing I'm not liking about the treasure trove of stuff we found is there's a gigantic chest of individual coins and its my job to catalogue each and every one. I've finished about 150 of 477. Another bad thing is since we're living mostly at the second camp, I haven't had much time to talk to Zach… He says that he'll be going home to the Jeffersonian soon though, so that's good. It will be much better for him to be around friends when I can't talk to him. The second base camp doesn't have the equipment for an internet connection and it would take too long to try to bring it over from the first camp. All we have are satellite phones that are just for contacting each other within the group. So Zach will be unable to talk with me for two months… I am really nervous about this. I had a bad feeling that something bad would happen while I'm gone and if something is going to happen it will be while I don't have contact with the outside world.

Months 5 & 6:

On the last day before we moved to the second camp, I got an email saying that Zach had made it safely back to the US. So that made me happy, but I'm still very worried about him. We're nearly done excavating here though so I might be able to come home a bit earlier than expected! I think I might surprise them if I come home early by just showing up at the Jeffersonian! I finished that gigantic chest of coins and got placed on cause of death for some new bodies we found. These were not carefully mummified like the monks we found before. They are in their early thirties and date back only to the 19th century. It appears that we were not the first ones to discover this place. From what I can tell, they took shelter here and then got lost in the tunnels or were forced to stay here because of weather conditions. Sadly, they starved to death. I'm very glad that we have helicopter drops of food every month so that this won't happen to us!

Last entry!

I am on the incredibly long flight home! I didn't let the team know I was coming so I'll drop off my stuff at home and then go to work and surprise them all! I cannot wait to see everyone! It has been murder not seeing Zach's face for two months and not being able to touch him for nearly seven! Ok, my battery is almost dead on my computer and I should try to catch some sleep before we arrive so I won't be a zombie when I get to DC.

The humming of the plane as it made its decent woke me. I glanced out the window and watched the Virginia countryside turn into city as we touched down at Dulles airport.

My trip out of the airport and into DC went by in a blur. I got my bags, a taxi to Hodgins', dropped off my stuff, and went straight to downtown DC. I walked into the large atrium to see the team busily working around a body up on the platform.

I smiled, "Cause of death?" I asked loudly.

Everyone turned around to see me standing at the bottom of the steps to the platform.

"Alice! You're home early!" Angela jumped down the stairs and hugged me tightly.

The others proceeded to do the same.

"How was Tibet?"

"Why didn't you tell us you'd be back?"

"Did you find anything cool?"

I was bombarded by questions but something confused me.

"Ok, one at a time! I have a question first though; Where's Zach?"

**I realize that the whole situation in Tibet is completely ludicrous and stupid but its just filler so bear with me. I will update before new years (hopefully) and only if I get SEVEN reviews!**


	14. Chapter 14

**I know you're probably going to delete this from your inbox and be all "But I don't know the story anymore! It took forever to update, I don't want to be disappointed waiting for another chapter again!" Well you sure as hell better keep reading this story because my mind has become UNROADBLOCKED! I have a plan for at least the next 2 chapters! So enjoy:**

"Where's Zach?"

The Squint Squad awkwardly looked around at each other.

"Why don't you come with me sweetie." Angela said, bringing Alice to her office.

Alice was confused, "What's going on? Is he sick? Did something happen?"

Angela sighed, "You might want to sit down before I tell you this."

Alice worriedly sat on Angela's desk chair.

"Zach is in a mental hospital."

Alice's eyebrows rose, "This is a joke right?"

"No, honey, I'm not kidding. He… he became the apprentice to a cannibalistic serial killer who called himself Gormogon. Luckily he never ate anyone… but he did kill a man. Caroline and Sweets were able to get him declared Non Compos Mentis so that he wouldn't get sent to jail."

A few seconds passed with no reaction from Alice.

"Sweetie, say something."

"I-" she squeaked before tears began to fall and she started to hyperventilate.

Angela hugged her tightly, "Oh honey, come on, let's go to Wong Fu's."

As Angela escorted the shaking Alice to the parking lot, the rest of the team looked on in sympathy from the platform.

Once in the car, Alice immediately started sobbing.

Angela tried her best to comfort her while paying adequate attention to the road.

The two arrived at Wong Fu's as Alice's sobs had turned to hiccups. Sitting down at a booth, the two awaited their meal in silence, Angela's hand gently rubbing Alice's.

A plate of sashimi and a bowl of steaming rice arrived for Alice. She uncharacteristically fumbled with her chopsticks as she ate the cool meat and hot rice.

By the end of the meal, she was silent once more.

"I'm going to drive you home, okay Alice?" Angela said, paying and leading her out to the car.

She nodded and remained in a daze on the drive home.

Angela guided her up to her and Zach's apartment, helping her undress and putting her in bed, "Don't worry, Cam will give you time off, and we can go visit Zach if you like. Get some rest and call me or Hodgins if you need anything at all."

Angela tucked her into bed and turned out the light as she left.

Alice gripped Zach's pillow to her chest, inhaling his scent as tears began to fall once more. She took a few pillows and arranged them into a makeshift Zach, curled up next to it and cried herself to sleep.

For the next few days, Hodgins and Angela came to check on her and bring her meals besides the instant ramen she was eating constantly. Alice spent her time re-watching Firefly episodes and moping about.

Three days later, Angela came to talk to her, "Hey Sweetie, Hodgins and I are planning on visiting Zach tomorrow and we were wondering if you'd like to come with?"

Alice paused the episode she was watching and sighed, "Only if you allow me to punch him in the face, just once," she said bitterly.

"If it means you're coming with then fine. We'll leave at 10, so be ready alright?"

"Yeah, yeah."

Alice's knees were crushed up against the back of Hodgins' seat. The mini cooper had not been a good idea. Throughout the whole drive, she didn't make a sound – she was too nervous. Alice couldn't stop thinking about all the possibilities that were awaiting her in that visiting room – was Zach a total mental case now? Would he remember her? Did he still love her? Was he sorry? Would she be satisfied with only one punch?

The car pulled into the parking lot. She took a deep breath before following Angie and Hodgins into the lobby of the facility.

The three were led to a waiting room. Alice picked at her nails nervously.

"Visitors of Zachary Addy?" A woman in white scrubs said.

She ushered the three of us into what looked like a police interview room.

A guard led a white jumpsuit-clad Zach into the room. He froze when he saw her.

The guard left and silence hung in the air. Alice rushed towards him and punched him square in the jaw. Just as he recovered from the momentum, she grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him down to her and kissing him passionately.

She pulled away and Zach said, "That did not go how I envisioned it would."

Alice smiled sadly, "Don't think I'm not furious with you, Addy. I still love you, though."

Behind them Hodgins whispered to Angela, "Told you this was a good idea."

They spent the next hour explaining what exactly had occurred while Alice had been in Tibet.

"So you still help out with cases?" Alice asked.

Zach smiled, "From time to time. But it is highly improbable that I will ever be released from this facility and return to work."

Alice squeezed his hand, "You're too brilliant for them to give you up forever."

"You said you were still mad at me? How mad is mad?" Zach asked warily.

"Well I'm mad because you weren't there when I got back. And I'm mad because I've been sleeping in a tent on snow for the past four months and was seriously looking forward to a regular bed with a cuddly heat source. And I'm mad because what you did was awful." With each point, Zach's face dropped a little more.

"But at least nobody _died_ while I was away…" Alice sighed.

Visiting hours had ended, and Hodgins and Angela said their goodbyes before leaving Alice to say goodbye in private.

She hugged him tightly, "Don't go crazy, Zachie."

"I believe that insanity is not communicable." Zach smiled weakly.

"Still…" She said, sadly.

He reached out and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. She looked up at him, tears in her eyes, "Why'd you have to do this, Zach?" He kissed her gently as she suppressed her sobs.

She pushed him away softly, "I'm sorry, I just… I have to go…" She said, quickly walking out before breaking into sobs in the hallway.

Zach sighed and waited for the guard to come escort him to his room. _I would hate me too_… he thought.

By two am, Alice had called every Markowitz in the DC area save one, James Markowitz.

"Do you have any idea what the hell time it is?" A gruff voice said from the phone.

"My name is Dr. Owens and I know you said you'd contact me, but I need your help and I can't go to the government."

The man on the other end, presumably James Markowitz, was silent a moment, "How'd you get this number?"

"The phonebook? I've called every Markowitz I could, it was my only lead." She said, exasperated.

"Alright lady, what's so important that you're enlisting someone of my _notoriety_ for?" He said impatiently.

"Well… my boyfriend, Dr. Zach Addy, probably the greatest forensic anthropologist in the country save for Dr. Brennan, has been placed in a mental facility because the FBI had him declared _non compos mentis_ so that he wouldn't have to go to jail for assisting a psychotic cannibal."

"So?"

"I want you to get him out quasi-legally and make it so he can have his old life back, no strings attached. I'll give you anything in return." She said.

Markowitz chuckled darkly, "Anything?"

"Within reason."

"Fine, we'll take the job. But… you must quit your job at the Jeffersonian, move away, and never return."

**OH NO!**

**Hey sorry it took a year to update… I seriously cannot believe Bones doesn't come back until November 3rd! Ridiculous!**


End file.
